ALTAMONTE SPRINGS — Recliner chairs, private dressing rooms and lush gardens that can be seen from almost every room make up much of a new cancer treatment center designed to reduce the trauma and stress involved in curing patients.

The Cancer Treatment Center at Florida Hospital Altamonte isn't scheduled to open until June, but the $3.5 million complex will be open Sunday for public viewing between 2 and 4 p.m.

Equipped with the latest in disease detection and treatment equipment, the center is expected to become a major treatment site in Central Florida. It also is intended to become the main office for Florida Hospital Orlando, which currently runs a similar center, says Royce Thompson, administrator of Florida Hospital Altamonte.

Although the Altamonte Springs center will be used for treating hospitalized oncology patients, a great deal of emphasis in the design has been placed on outpatient care -- for those who live at home and must come to the center for chemotherapy and other cancer-related needs. Currently, those hospitalized must be taken to Orlando by ambulance for treatment.

Thompson said the center's philosophy is geared toward making patients as relaxed and comfortable as possible.

The interior is painted in earth tones to create a warm, soothing environment. A private entrance has been created so patients can avoid the busy lobby of the hospital to which the center is connected.

Large dressing rooms with private stalls and lockers replace the standard cramped examining rooms in doctors' offices. The center also houses several doctors' offices and private consultation rooms large enough for family members to discuss plans and receive counseling.

Gardens have been planted around the building outside large windows to provide views of lush plants and flowers in almost all patient areas. A patio-style waiting area also has been created in one of the gardens.

''The whole idea is that anywhere the patient is he can be looking out into a garden and not at a wall or a parking lot,'' Thompson said. ''It shows life. It gives them something living to look at.''

Center manager Gordon Anderson said four recliner chairs in a ward-like room are designed to make chemotherapy sessions easier on patients. Treating several patients together is expected to encourage socializing, which should ease patients' anxieties, he said. Those who prefer privacy may draw curtains around them, Thompson said. Television and music also will be available.

On the technical side, high-tech detection equipment is computerized to pinpoint cancerous areas with greater accuracy than ever before. Because of that, doctors can better protect surrounding areas from radiation, said radiation physicist J. Donald Russell.

Patients are placed on a simulation radiation therapy machine so doctors can determine the best treatment plan. Once that is decided, the patient is placed on the 12-ton radiation machine, which produces such a high energy beam that less radiation is needed. It reduces patients' treatment time and skin irritation and ensures easier treatment of extremely deep tumors, Russell said.

In addition to a medical staff trained to work specifically with cancer patients, the American Cancer Society will have an office in the complex to help patients with their special needs, Thompson said.